5/22/17

Jeffrey Paternostro
wrote a piece on the Columbia Fireflies for BP that included this on Harol
Gonzalez –

So
the stuff has improved across the board. Gonzalez’s prior calling cards are
still here too: advanced pitchability and the confidence to throw any of his
pitchers in any count or game situation. There’s potentially four average or
better offerings here now and plus makeup/mound smarts to help the arsenal play
up.. Still, it’s a difficult profile: he’s a short, lean righty who has to make
it as a starter to have a real major league role, as there isn’t an obvious
bullpen fit for this profile. In the past I have pegged him as one of my
acquire 3s, but that feels light now.

Mack – I’m a big fan of Harol. He got right behind the 8-ball on
his first outing when he gave up five earned runs in 3.2 innings pitched
(12.27-ERA). He’s been fighting back since then and came up with his best
outing this week (7-IP, 1-ER, 8-K). He didn't pitch half bad yesterday either: 4-IP, 1-ER.My hopes is he continues to improve and
finishes his Columbia experience with an ERA below 4.00. Time will tell.

The
Mets have not resumed contract extension talks with second baseman Neil Walker, and it’s doubtful they will before the
offseason, according to FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal (video link). New York would
rather enter the winter with flexibility at various positions than commit to
Walker, with whom it discussed a three-year deal in the $40MM range before
tabling talks in February. Walker, 31, is on a $17.2MM salary after accepting a
qualifying offer last fall, and has returned from a season-ending back injury
in 2016 to post a decent .255/.327/.423 line in 168 plate appearances this
year.

Mack – I think this is a smart move at this point of a season that
could go in either position. Walker runs hot and cold with a bat in his hands
and is always one play away from a future stint on the disabled list. Add to
this the fact that Gavin
Cecchini is
major league ready in Las Vegas (yes, he’s only hitting around .250 but he is
playing excellent defense at second). Cecchini is 23-years old and is ready to
join Dominic Smith, Amed Rosario,
Wilmer Flores,
and T.J. Murphy in the ‘next’ Mets infield.

A follow-up on Cuban OF prospect Luis Robert, Baseball America came out Friday with the
list of team favorites to sign him… St. Louis and the Chicago White Sox.

10
comments:

We saw this with Duda, who also rejected a contract offer. My (wild) speculation is that Sandy doesn't take to those rejections all that well. When Walker started to negotiate for more money, he might have ended his career at a NY Met.

For me, I think the $17.2 for Walker -- who is solid, but unspectacular -- was a terrible waste. Especially when the Mets have Flores and Rivera and Cecchini all available to play that position. Especially when Cabrera/Reyes will have to figure something out once Rosario comes up (and that should be very soon).

Walker is in the way of all those guys who could have given the Mets something close to his numbers, while giving the club an extra $16 million to address various team needs.

Instead of going bold, Sandy went bland.

Which makes me wonder: Is he the GM to remake and remodel the 2018 Mets, when $70-90 million slides off the payroll?

Where's Doug Flynn for 2B when you need a defensive whiz/ He was something else.

I agree with Jimmy, too...what an infield log jam with Walker. Imagine if Wright had been half way healthy. Something will have to give by the trade deadline, if health holds up for the current guys and Rosario. Keeping him in the minors one day past Super 2 is one day too long.

well, your rf and lf are set for next year. I think it will be interesting to see where cabrera plays when he starts his rehab assignment. if he plays some 3rd base i think you can make a case that rosario will be called up sometime after super 2.

While, we fans think rosario is ready, it does seem that the organization isnt wavering on the fact that he is not. clearly they think something (pitch selection from what ive reas) needs to be worked on. super 2 is about fathers day. so he's working on that until then. thats 6 weeks from the trade deadline.

I think its really possible that come Aug 1 its rosario at ss and nimmo legares in cf. cabrera at 3rd base.

I think the 133 days of Super 2 mean that a guy has to have 2 years and 133 days of service time by the end of his 3rd year (assuming uninterrupted time on the roster) to beat the Super 2.

133 days prior to season end is around early June. So if a guy is in the minors until mid-June, he can't get 133 days in for year 1, and thereby have 2 years and 133 days in by the end of his 3rd season (which, if he did exceed 2 years and 133 days, would allow him to be considered to have 3.00 years of service for arbitration purposes).

If I am all wet on that, I am open to hearing the correct interpretation.

it's hard to scout the stat line and know why some guys might not be ready when they are succeeding. I feel like maybe if Conforto had received more at-bats in the minors against lefties we might have been able to avoid the whole he cant hit lefties thing. Its just hard to know the rationale. Maybe thats part of what rosario needs, is more at bats against guys who throw left handed breaking pitches. They track everything. If i guy gets all his hits on fastballs over the plate maybe they want him to see more curves on the inner half. who knows.

Dilson is plying his trade in AAA after hitting 296 last year for AAA Louisville after the trade. Bet he thinks he's ready, but there are guys ahead of him who are more ready in managements eyes.